This issue:

- developing collective governance capacity 
- mission oriented innovation 
- the future of work is hybrid 
- an agenda for change 
- the social economy’s contribution to the circular economy 

Plus what I’m reading. 

Developing collective governance capacity

In today’s network society, the capacity to deal with societal issues and realise public value is no longer limited to public agencies. It is spread among different actors and is influenced by their interactions. This collective capacity, often called governance capacity, is the focus of a paper in Administration & Society. It identifies five elements of governance capacity framework. 

Read our brief on the article

The Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose has compiled a casebook on how mission-oriented innovation is being implemented by public agencies globally. It includes cases from the UK, the Netherlands, Spain and Australia. 

The casebook covers each project’s: 
- political context 
- implementation approach
- challenges faced
- lessons learned to-date. 

Missions in action 
The 21st century is seeing the need to respond to complex issues or ‘grand challenges’ such as climate change. Mission-oriented innovation calls on governments and policymakers to put public value at the heart of innovation in order to meet them. 

Delivering mission-oriented innovation requires the public sector to go beyond fixing the failures of the market. It means actively setting the direction for innovation and convening deep collaborations with other sectors. It requires: 
- new dynamic public sector capabilities 
- new and different forms of finance and instruments 
- evaluation frameworks that differentiate between cost benefit analysis and a sense of shared purpose with civil society and citizens. 

The “how” of missions 
Different types of missions can be implemented in different ways, leading to an implementation taxonomy or the ‘how’ of missions: 
- top-down coordination to better align existing policy mixes
- sectoral consensus building as a way to recharge coordinated market economy mechanisms 
- place-based approaches at the city/regional level that seek to ‘democratise’ innovation to wider co-creation processes and civic engagement
- design-led approaches to reframe siloed policy goals through ‘user-centric’ policy design processes that rely on deeper civic and stakeholder engagement.

A new UNSW Canberra and CQUniversity study has found public sector managers are becoming increasingly supportive of flexible working arrangements. However, managers and employees have different perceptions of employee productivity when work is done remotely. The study involved surveying 5000 Australian Public Service employees. 

At a glance  
- The findings highlight the benefits of working from home which include increased autonomy and flexibility and better work/life balance.
- Employees value working from home with a clear preference  to work hybridly, with two or three days a week spent working from home. However, there is mismatch between preferred and actual working arrangements with only a small percentage of employees working three days a week from home. 
- Nearly 60 per cent of employees stated that their productivity was higher when working from home while 66 per cent of managers considered their team’s productivity was about the same, whether working from home or the office. 
- The majority of respondents (87 per cent) agreed that working from home is emerging as a standard working condition that employees expect. 
- Over 80 per cent of managers saw working from home as contributing to their organisation’s ability to attract and retain staff. 

This Australian Strategic Policy Institute report is being released in anticipation of a federal election. It seeks to answer the question: 
- If a government can focus on only a handful of impactful initiatives, what should it first pursue? 

The report’s response recognises that Australia’s security and resilience are achieved through an inclusive national agenda that tackles intractable issues. Ideas are presented under the banners of ‘Getting our house in order’ and ‘Australia looking outward’. 

Getting our house in order 
This outlines how Australia should: 
- innovate, bringing together intersecting opportunities to integrate economic prosperity, social cohesion and national security 
- reshape our counterterrorism agenda to focus on the preventive and operational measures that keep Australia secure
- change the aperture of social cohesion to generate new opportunities, accelerate economic growth and reduce the conditions for social division. 

Australia looking outward 
This outlines how Australia should: 
- re-energise our contribution to the region 
- develop a regional climate change risk assessment 
- connect strategic, technological and economic interests 
- exploit disruptive innovation in the space domain 
- get more value from our free trade agreements. 

The COVID-19 pandemic recovery provides an opportunity to promote a green and inclusive transition, including through the circular economy and the social economy. This OECD policy brief  focuses on this contribution of the social economy to help the shift to a circular economy 

What is the circular economy? 
The circular economy breaks with the “Take-Make-Use-Dispose” linear economy and proposes a model in which products and materials are designed to: 
- minimise waste and pollution 
- remain in use 
- regenerate natural systems.  

Value retention is central as circular approaches aim to maintain the value of products and resources for as long as possible. This is done by returning them into the product cycle at the end of their use. 

What is the social economy? 
Social economy organisations have two defining characteristics: 
- they address societal needs and pursue a social purpose 
- their business models are not based on collaboration, typically at the local level.
- They include associations, cooperatives, mutual organisations, foundations and social enterprises. 

How can the social economy contribute to the circular economy? 
Circular economy initiatives pursue the creation and retention of environmental and economic value. Social economy organisations can help: 
- reinforce the focus on positive social impact  
- accelerate the transition to the circular economy as businesses and social innovator themselves, and as means to engage citizens and firms in circularity. 

‘Til the next issue

Maria Katsonis

Maria curates The Bridge. She is a Public Policy Fellow at the University of Melbourne and a former senior Victorian public servant with 20 years’ experience. She has a deep understanding of public policy and public management and brings a practitioner’s perspective to the academic.